The X-Keepers
by Shadow Shoveler Productions
Summary: When darkness threatens to cover the lands once more, five young Keyblade wielders must band together to save the worlds before an ancient evil is resurrected! Based on the YouTube group of the same name.
1. The Stormless One & The Hectic One

**Hello everyone, and welcome to my newest fanfic, The X-Keepers! **

**Before we get started, I think it's best that I explain something you guys are probably wondering: Who the hell are the X-Keepers?!**

**For those not in the know, The X-Keepers are a group of five Kingdom Hearts YouTubers, known for collaborating on different topics regarding the series, whether it be news, theories, etc. What makes these guys so great, in my opinion, is the fact that each of their differing personalities and traits seem to make for some good chemistry amongst the group, and seem to lend themselves to be kickass characters if ever put into a tale such as this one...**

**Now I'd like to stress before we begin that this story is going a be a little different than my ongoing KH III story, as with that one, I try to mimic the games to a tee (Character dialogue, gameplay flow, so on and so forth.) Here, I will just be trying to straight up tell a story that personally, I would love to see come to life at some point. But hey, a guy can dream...**

**So, without further ado, here is the debut chapter of The X-Keepers! Sit back and enjoy!**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney **

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**THE X-KEEPERS**

* * *

_His mind was drifting from one thought to the next. _

_Images of the last Keyblade War flashed before his eyes. _

_He saw the seven guardians of light clash with the thirteen seekers of darkness. _

_He saw a boy filled with light confront his darker half, two bitter friends cross their blades, a nobody settling a score with his mentor, a boy who walks the road to dawn face his oldest enemy, and at the centre of it all, the boy chosen by destiny, connected to so many hearts, face to face with what many have considered the embodiment of all that was darkness. _

_All of this, while above in the clouds rested the heart of all worlds in which these two sides fought for: __**Kingdom Hearts**__._

* * *

"Deeeeean…wake up, silly bum."

Suddenly, his eyes flashed open, and gazed upon his master, whom was leaning down toward his face, with her hands on her hips and wore a smirking smile across her face.

"Oh! Sorry master." He flustered, scratching his head.

Seeing as her apprentice was now awake, the master stood back up, "It's ok. I can see you've had a lot on your mind recently." She said.

"Yeah, something like that." He answered, still a bit embarrassed.

"Well, why don't I let you take a break for a little bit, let you clear your mind, and then we can continue later on. How does that sound?" The master asked.

"Ok, I guess." He answered back, a bit relieved that the master wasn't upset. Then again, she did have a lot more patience than the other "master". He then hopped off the rock he was sitting on, starting to leave, before he turned and bowed to his master.

"Thank you, Master Aqua." Aqua giggled a bit as she bowed back to her apprentice. As the two stood back up, the boy took off down the corner staircase around the garden. His blue jacket blowing in the rush of wind passing by as he now started to race down the stairs. It was moments like these when he almost felt like a child again.

As he approached the garden's exit, facing the castle library, he took another look out at the beautiful garden. He always thought The Land of Departure was beautiful to begin with, but this place in particular was always a breath of fresh air to visit. After taking one more glance, SoraAlam turned back around to enter the castle library.

What he didn't know was that Aqua was now standing on the balcony above the entrance, looking down at her apprentice as he strolled through the entrance. After the Keyblade War, she, as well as others, learned of a way to pass through corridors of light, similar to the darker ones used by the Organization, making it easier to navigate through the worlds, wherever they may be.

The mere thought of Xehanort and his thirteen seekers of darkness brought back painful memories for Aqua, and how she almost lost all of her friends to the monster she once called a master. But what was important now was that they were all safe, and still with her today.

Well, everyone…except one…

Aqua's thoughts were cut short, however, as to her surprise, a corridor of darkness appeared. Quickly, she summoned her Master Keeper Keyblade, gripping it in her hand ready to attack, only for a familiar face to appear.

"Whoa, relax, it's just me!" said the red haired pyro, as Aqua let her guard down.

"Lea." Aqua greeted. "Why are you using a corridor of darkness? You know it's dangerous to use those."

"Eh, old habit I guess." Lea answered, as the corridor disappeared behind him. "Plus, just something about those new ones of light are just kind of…weird, I guess."

Aqua leaned on the railing as she looked out at the garden. "It sends a better message to the young ones. So far, none of them have shown any signs of darkness in their hearts, and I don't plan on having it start anytime soon."

Lea, though a bit shaken by the statement for some reason, put up a smirk and replied, "That's good. We don't want anymore Xehanorts running around here anymore."

"I only hope that I never have to lay my eyes on that monster again in my life. Nor should my students." Aqua sulked a bit.

Lea sighed, as this was a touchy subject for Aqua, thus he decided to detract from it. "Hey, speaking of those students, how are they coming along?" He asked.

"Very well, actually." Aqua answered, looking inside the library to see SoraAlam looking through the shelves of books. "SoraAlam in particular has been very impressive as of lately. He shows so much potential of a Keyblade master."

"You think he's ready for the mark of mastery?" Lea asked, leaning back on the rail.

Aqua shook her head, "Not yet. He still has much left to learn. But I do see greatness in him. So much light."

"No wonder he named himself after Sora." Lea said, to which Aqua began remembering her old friend.

"Sora…" She mumbled to herself. The boy who opened the door and saved the worlds. Aqua kept herself from getting too emotional, as she moved onto a different subject. "So, how about your apprentice? How's he doing?" Aqua brought up, to which Lea looked away in almost embarrassment.

"Oh, you know. He's coming along. Bit of a handful, but he knows his way around a Keyblade, heck even bested me a couple times dueling." The way Lea was talking made Aqua think he was hiding something.

"What is it Lea?" Aqua finally asked, crossing her arms.

Lea chuckled weakly, thinking of how to break this news to Aqua in a gentle manner, "Um…while training him, I could sense a liiiiiiitlebitofdarknessinhim…" the last part was uttered so fast that Aqua couldn't make out what he had said.

"Wait, go back, what was that, Lea?" She asked, only for Lea to push off the topic.

"Wow, would you look at the time? The old scamp is probably wondering where I am. Got to go, Aqua. Tell the others I said hi!" And with that, a corridor of darkness appeared once again as Lea rushed through it, it disappearing after him.

Aqua just stood there, a bit confused as to what just happened. What exactly was Lea talking about? For the time being, she shrugged it off, looking back out at the garden. When the time is right, she knew Lea would tell her what's up. She just hoped that his apprentice wasn't being…too hectic this time…

* * *

Radiant Garden.

What started as a kingdom of light that fell into darkness, only for light to return, turned it into a city of sorts for the denizens of the realm of light. It bustled with much more people than it has usually before, with people all over the universe coming to reside in the world.

He looked down from the high above the building to see the people walking about their day, knowing that their lives are much safer than before. He smiled at the thought of everyone being safe. As he looked out at the bright, pinkish looking sky, a corridor of darkness appeared behind him, with Lea stepping out of it, almost out of breath.

"Whew, there you are!" Lea said, walking closer to him, "If anyone asks, I've been looking all over for you."

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of the sky. "Well, you found me." He said with a smirk.

"What are you doing up here anyway?" Lea asked.

"I like to come up here and think sometimes." He answered calmly, as Lea approached his side, leaning on the edge.

"Really? About what?" Lea asked.

"Like, what if what we think we know is not really fact, or what may happen in the future due to whatever event may happen." He shrugged, not knowing what else to say, "I dunno, I guess I just like predicting the future I guess."

Lea rubbed the back of his neck. "Sheesh, you're starting to sound more like Roxas as the days go by."

He smirked. He always enjoyed Lea's stories about Roxas.

"Anyway," Lea started back up again. "I was wondering if you wanted me to teach you that move now. Y'know the one."

He turned to face his master with a small grin on his face. "Really?" He asked.

"Yeah. You've been progressing pretty well recently, so I thought something new would be in order." Lea faced his pupil as he leaped from the edge onto the ground in front of his master. "You think you can handle it?" Lea asked, as he summoned his Keyblade.

The pupil smirked, it sounded like a piece of cake. Or at least, by Lea's standards. Thus, with a swift swing of his hand, the pupil summoned forth his Keyblade. It was a dark Keyblade, with a sharp black blade with golden teeth, as well as a rounded grey grip around his hand in which he held the blade. It was a complete reflection of its wielder.

He called it 'The Hectic Eternity'.

"Bring it on!" He taunted, as he shifted into his battle stance.

For almost an hour, the two spared with great balance, not one of them losing focus. Both of them ravaged their fire based attacks at each other, but still to no avail. But the moment Lea let his guard down, his apprentice swiped away his fiery keyblade and leaped in the air to deliver what could be considered the final blow.

As he did, it was almost as if time slowed down, as Lea stared upon his pupil, as saw darkness emit from his body. He saw a fiery rage that none had ever seen before, that almost scared Lea to the core. But the apprentice noticed this himself as well, seeing the shocked and almost fearful look on Lea's face. Thus, he swung his blade away from his teacher, slamming it onto the ground and dropping to his knees in anger.

"Ugh! That's the third time in a row that this has happened!" The apprentice cried out, pounding his fist on the ground. Lea, recovering from almost getting the flames kicked out of him, came to his pupil's side.

"Hey, it's ok." Lea said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "You just got to learn how to control it is all."

The pupil sighed. "I don't know if I can." Both were silent for a while, before Lea rose to his feet, crossing his arms.

"Giving up already?" He said to his student, "C'mon, Gio, I thought you were stronger than that." Hearing that made the pupil do a double take, seeing his master now grinning down at him. As much as he hated to admit it, Lea was right in a way. No matter what situation he was in, no matter how many times he got kicked down, he'd never give up, only come back stronger than ever.

With this in mind, HMK rose up from the ground, now with a playful smirk on his face.

"I'm ready to go again if you are, Master Lea." He said, to which Lea smiled at.

"Now THAT'S what I like to hear!" Lea said, as he summoned his Keyblade again, as both of them resumed their battle positions. "Just forgo calling me master in the future," Lea added, "It just sounds a bit off. After all, we're friends, right?"

HMK grinned, summoning his own keyblade again, "Fair enough…Axel."

Lea rolled his eyes with a groan. Oh how he hated being called that. "Just shut up and attack me." He groaned, to which his apprentice gladly complied, putting the two into another bombastic brawl.

* * *

**Before anyone says anything, yes, a good majority of this story's backstory is based on "The X-Keeper File" by Malik Grier. You can check it out on the X-Keeper's official Facebook page. Trust me, it's pretty cool.**

**Now, I would like to point out, even though I will try and update it the best I can, this story will not be my main focus at the moment, as KH III is still my main focus (As well as FF2, when KH III eventually ends.) But once those two are finished, and this story hasn't completed yet, This story will become my main focus. So don't think I'm going to be ignoring this one...**

**With that out of the way, let me know what you guys think of the first chapter of The X-Keepers. Two of five have been introduced, leaving three to be revealed. Are you hyped? You should be...**

**Until then guys, feel free to comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	2. The Heuristic One & The Progressive One

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to The X-Keepers!**

**Sorry for the wait on this one (I did say that I had other matters to attend to) but I had to make sure that the chapter was epic enough to satisfy you guys. If it is, then I've done my job. If not, then...I got nothing...**

**Also, not sure if I should be surprised or not, but for now I really am, apparently the X-Keepers themselves have read the story so far, and are really enjoying it. Which must mean two things:**

**1. It's an incredible honor to have you awesome YouTubers view my work and, above all else, enjoy it.**

**2. Now I'm going to have to work my ass off to make the story more epic than planned (Though it was already planned to be pretty epic to begin with).**

**But again, just wanted to say, to the X-Keepers, if you guys are reading this, thank you for the awesome feedback, and look forward to awesome stuff to come. Like this chapter for example, so I'm just going to shut up and let you read the newest chapter of our tale. Enjoy!**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney **

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CHAPTER 2

SoraAlam strolled through the rows of books in the castle library, hoping to find something interesting to read. It was pretty much the only pastime he could think of when strolling around the castle, when not training of course.

He looked through the aisles of books, though nothing seemed to catch his eye. He kept walking around, until he saw someone around the corner. He was dressed similar to him, except instead of blue and white, his clothes were green and grey. He was muttering to himself, as it looked like he was reading a book of sorts. Deciding to be the friendly saint he is, SoraAlam walked over to the desk that the boy was sitting at.

"Hey there!" He said, startling the boy a bit, "What are you reading?"

The boy stuttered, "Uh, um, nothing. It's nothing." As much as he tried to cover it up, SoraAlam managed to look past the boy's cover to see what he was reading. Though he didn't see much, he did manage to see what exactly he was reading about.

"Is that the Keyblade War?" SoraAlam asked, to which the boy sighed and sat back, showing SoraAlam the book.

"Yeah," The boy admitted, "I was reading up on it."

"What for?" SoraAlam asked.

"I dunno," The boy answered, his accent catching SoraAlam's attention, "I just found it interesting. All of the stories that the masters had told about how they fought against the darkness and, y'know, just all of what happened, I thought it was kinda fascinating."

SoraAlam looked upon the book, which was showing a painting of the battle. It looked almost like the dreams he had been having.

"I can understand that." He said, as he sat down and too started to flip through the book. "I mean, who wouldn't. Almost everyone around here knows about the story. An old Keyblade Master named Xehanort spent his whole life obsessed with the first Keyblade War and the source of all power and knowledge that the two sides fought for known as Kingdom Hearts. He knew that a second Keyblade War would summon Kingdom Hearts back and the all-powerful X-Blade would be formed, so that all that Kingdom Hearts had to offer would be his for the taking. So he gathered thirteen vessels to bear his dark persona, and waited for seven guardians of light to face him. And though they did face him, he did not expect for them to defeat him."

"That's what bugs me though. The passage just ends there." The boy said, looking through the book, while SoraAlam took notice of this too, "How exactly did the seven lights defeat him?"

SoraAlam shrugged, "No one knows." He answered, "Some say only the masters who fought in that war know what happened that day."

The boy then thought, "Master Aqua was there that day. Maybe she knows." He said.

"She does know," SoraAlam corrected, "But she never wants to talk about it. I'm guessing something big must've happened."

"Like what?" The boy asked.

"I don't know." SoraAlam sighed, looking down at the book. He always wondered what the Master hiding from him, but he knew that when the time was right, she would tell him.

SoraAlam then remembered, he didn't even introduce himself! He turned to the boy next to him, holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Dean," He said, "Most people call me SoraAlam."

The boy, though hesitant at first, shook SoraAlam's hand. "Jared," The boy introduced himself, "My friends call me Cynical. That is, if I had any friends." Cynical turned away from SoraAlam, a bit embarrassed, until his new acquaintance piped up again.

"Well, hey, could you consider me a friend?" SoraAlam asked.

Cynical looked back, a bit confused. "But I just met you." He pointed out, to which SoraAlam shrugged.

"So," he said, "It's better than having no friends at all."

Cynical was about to speak, but then thought about it. SoraAlam is in many ways quite right. Maybe it was high time he made some new friends.

While Cynical thought, SoraAlam spoke up again, hoping out his chair. "Hey, I know a cool place on the other side of the garden. Want to come?" He asked, to which Cynical sat thinking.

All he could muster was a long, "Uhhhhh." SoraAlam then rolled his eyes, dragging Cynical out of his chair.

"C'mon, I'll show you!" He said, as he dragged his new friend out of the library toward this supposed 'cool place'.

* * *

The city was dark. Then again, when wasn't it? The Nobody home world could have been considered abandoned by many, as the world had become less and less populated as time went on after Organization XIII was destroyed during the Keyblade War. Now it just sits in the lanes between with little to no purpose. But right now, it has somewhat of a purpose.

As the dark clouds continued to roll over the skies, two warriors moved through the dark and empty streets of The World That Never Was. They were quiet, both looking forward, all business. It was like they were in military training. It wasn't until one of the warriors, a woman with faded pink hair, turned to her partner, a blonde man dressed all in black, while motioning toward the buildings surrounding them.

"We shouldn't be letting him wander around like this." The woman said, to which the man did not seem to react too much to.

"Tifa said he needs to be more active. Besides, it's not like him to get into too much trouble."

The woman scoffed a bit, "I wouldn't be too sure of that." She said.

"What makes you say that?" The man asked, turning to his colleague.

"You've seen how he gets sometimes." The woman explained, "Tifa may choose not see it, but I know you can't ignore it."

The man closed his eyes, continuing to walk, "I won't let him go down that path like I did. Trust me, Claire. I know he'll be ok."

The woman sighed. "I really wish you wouldn't call me that, Cloud." She groaned, following her partner.

"Sorry…Lightning." The man corrected.

As the two approached Memory's Skyscraper, the woman, Lightning, examined the area as her partner, Cloud, covered her from behind. "Anything?" Cloud asked, to which Lightning did not respond to at first. As Cloud turned around, he noticed exactly why. Rising out of the ground, a large, dark monster appeared in front of the two, its beady yellow eyes glaring down at the two mercenaries.

"I think we found it!" Lightning muttered, pulling her gunblade from her back pouch. Cloud followed suit, drawing his buster sword from his back as the Darkside Heartless in front of them finally took its shape.

Wasting no time, the heartless rammed its fist into the ground, the two warriors jumping to each side. Lightning was first to take advantage of this, running up the creature's arm and slashing it across the face. Cloud went for its legs, slashing away, bringing it to its knees. The Darkside, however, grew back its severed limbs, swiping away its attackers.

Cloud and Lightning held their positions. "It's stronger than usual." Lightning pointed out, to which Cloud gritted his teeth.

"We can't fall back. Not now." The Solider stated, to which Lightning nodded, shifting her blade into a rifle, firing at the Heartless' face. The Darkside cover his face as the bullets from Lightning's attack faded into his body, leaving the monster only mildly annoyed. It then let out what sounded almost like a roar of sorts, as Cloud and Lightning held their positions, unsure of what exactly was about to happen.

All the while, atop Memory's Skyscraper, a lone figure stood, looking down at the action taking place. His facial expression was blank, but that's all anyone could make out from the blue hood covering most of his face. As thunder and lightning started to crack through the sky, a small smirk appeared across his face.

It was his time to shine now.

Thus, with a quick leap off the tower, the figure dived toward the massive Heartless, a ball of electricity forming in his hand. As he dived further, the Darkside still paid him no mind, still focusing on the mercenaries down below. Just then, they let their guards down, noticing the figure, a mere boy, falling through the Heartless' heart shaped hole in its chest. What they didn't notice was, during the time in which the boy was falling through the hole, he released the ball of electricity from his hand, with it sitting in the monster's chest until he landed back on the ground, where then the ball exploded, filling the hole full of lightning.

The Darkside doubled over in pain, as the boy rose to his feet, throwing out his hand and glaring down the giant in front of him. As the gigantic heartless looked up at its attacker, a dark ball of electricity formed in the boy's hand, stretching out longer, until in his hand, was a Keyblade.

It was all different shades of blue, its blade pointy and sharp, like a lightning bolt in the sky. It embodied its wielder's energy, with it appropriately being named 'Electric Bond'.

With the Key in hand, the boy pointed it at the heart shaped hole, where his lightning attack was filling up, leaving the giant in more excruciating pain. Suddenly, dark energy began to form at the tip of the blade, as small shocks of lightning began to shoot out. Finally, letting the energy go, the boy fired a massive dark lightning bolt at the creature's aching hole filled with his lightning, causing the immense amount of voltage inside the Heartless to go into overload.

Thus, the lightning attack exploded out of the Darkside, causing it to evaporate into the black smoke that Lightning and Cloud had been used to seeing, leaving only a small pink heart to float into the air. As the lightning attack died down, the boy dismissed his Keyblade, wearing a smirk of accomplishment across his face.

Too bad his comrades weren't wearing something similar, as Lightning in particular was fuming. "Tyler, what were you thinking?!" Lightning sternly questioned, "You could've killed us!"

The boy started to panic, "But, I…" He started, only for Cloud to cut him off.

"No 'buts' this time, Volt. That was very risky." The solider said, crossing his arms.

"But, you guys looked like you needed my help. I just saved you from almost getting squashed." The boy tried to defend himself, but to no end, as Lightning simply shoved past him, most likely leading on to leave.

"We could've handled it ourselves." She said as she pushed past the young boy, whom stood back in sadness.

"Sigh, great. Just great." The boy muttered, not noticing Cloud place a hand on his shoulder.

"I know how much you want to prove yourself to Lightning, Volt." Cloud said, in as fatherly of a tone as he could, "But putting yourself in danger like that isn't the right way of going about it."

The boy simply sighed, "I just wanted to show you guys I could be useful." He admitted, to which Cloud, surprisingly, smiled at.

"You can be useful, Volt. You just have a knack for showing off." The blonde swordsman said, to which the boy managed to laugh at.

"Oh gee! Thanks!" He said sarcastically, as Cloud patted the boy's shoulder, stepping out in front of him.

"C'mon, let's head back to base." Cloud said, beginning to wander off.

While his mentor continued walking, The boy continued to stand there, thinking. "There's only one reason why I feel the need to show off." He muttered to himself, as he held out his hand and summoned his Keyblade once more. He looked upon its features, while thinking to himself the question that had plagued his mind since the very day he discovered he could summon the weapon. "Why did you choose me?" He asked himself, until he realized his mentor had continued onward.

Not wanting to get left behind, VoltEditzz dismissed his Keyblade and scampered off to find Cloud, not noticing a dark figure looming atop Memory Skyscraper, glaring down at him before disappearing into the night.

* * *

**There you go, VoltEditzz! Hope that intro was epic enough for you! LOL ;-)**

**With that said, that concludes the second chapter of The X-Keepers! Hope you guys are still enjoying it. Two more have now been revealed, leaving one member left to unveil! (Hope you're ready for the epicness that is about to ensue, Sky!)**

**Until then, feel free too comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	3. The Skyward One

**Hello everyone and welcome back to The X-Keepers! **

**At long last, it's time for the final member of the group to be introduced, and let me tell you, it was pretty fun to write this one, and you'll find out why pretty quick. It might be a bit shorter than the last two, but I did make it long enough for you to grasp the awesomeness that ensues!**

**Which reminds me, you'll probably notice a lot of things in this chapter that are reminiscent of another popular series that I'm fond of. I won't say what it is here right away, but I will say that it's season finale last week was BEYOND AWESOME! But that's all I'm saying...**

**So, without further ado, let's continue on with the third chapter of The X-Keepers! Enjoy!**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney **

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CHAPTER 3

For miles, there was nothing but sand, a massive dune with a bright and burning sun beating down overhead.

But that didn't stop him from trekking on.

Covered in a grey, white and red robe, the figure carried on through the heat, with the slightest wind giving him a cool breeze. He gathered himself over the desert hill, until he saw it.

Agrabah. Civilization at last!

It didn't take him very long before he approached the bazaar within the city. People were out and about, shopping for whatever they could afford, and inspecting what other people were selling. But he was not interesting in buying anything. Instead he just gazed upon the smiles that people wore as they went about their day, not knowing some of the dangers that others, like him had witnessed. If anything, he was just more satisfied with knowing that people were still busy like this.

But more importantly than that was that they were safe.

But it seemed his wandering gaze went on for a little too long, as he didn't watch where he was going, and thus ran into someone quite large. He looked to see whom he bumped into, only to notice it was a guard of sorts, and he did not look too happy.

"Out of my way, street rat!" he spat, to which the figure responded as anyone in that situation would.

"Y'know, because you're in a bazaar right now, I would look into buying some manners, if I were you." He said, making the guard madder than he was already.

"Gah, I'll show you some manners!" The guard huffed, shoving the figure to the side, which caused him to drop the satchel he was carrying on his shoulder.

The guards, snickering, collected the satchel off the ground. "Hey, Razoul, get a load of this." One of them said, holding the satchel out to the guard, Razoul, whom opened it up, and began shifting his hands around inside the old bag. He then caught hold of something, which he pulled out to examine, which was nothing more than a hat.

It was a decent looking white cap, with small wings on both sides, as well as a small emblem on the front, that of a red 'W'.

But faster than Razoul could say "What the…?", a huge pillar of rock shot him up into the air, dropping the satchel and hat. Before any of the guards could react, the figure dashed forward, grabbing the two items from the air, and landing like he didn't even move, staring down the guards.

Stuffing the hat back into the satchel, he growled as nicely as he could, "Please don't touch my hat."

Just then, with a sudden THUD, Razoul landed back on the ground, crashing into a nearby shop. Collecting himself from the crash, with a crazy look of anger on his face, he yelled at the guards, "Seize him!"

The guards drew their swords, ready to grab the figure, only for him, with a small smirk crossing his face, to dash past the guards like air itself and into the bazaar. He continued to run, pushing past people in the streets, with the guards hot on his trail. He continued to sprint through the crowd, as he noticed the guards slowly but surely catching up to him.

But he was faster, he knew he was.

Just then, he came around the corner to be met with a dead end, but even that didn't stop him. Waving his hands around, he continued to run toward the wall, while it almost looked like the air itself was beginning to form around him. Finally, he leaped in the air, throwing his hands to the ground, which released the air he gathered and pushed him onto the side of the wall. He continued manipulating the wind around him, bouncing from the bricks to the wooden planks and everything in between, further upward until he landed on top of the building in front of him.

The guards chasing him couldn't believe their eyes. "What is this?" They asked, "How did he do that?"

The figure then looked over the edge, smiling down to the guards. "Sorry, guys!" He called out, "Love to stay and chat, but I have other places to be right now!" He playfully laughed to himself, as he turned to keep moving, until he saw something he was not expecting to see…

"Heartless?!"

Looking ahead of him, the figure saw the three or four Bandit and Pot Spider Heartless form in front of him, looking menacing as usual. As the figure stood there, confused at what he was seeing, one of the Bandits leaped toward him, ready to swing down its sword on the figure. However, the figure just barely noticed it, and threw a blast of fire from his fist at the bandit, causing it to disappear into thin air.

Quickly, the figure turned to the second Bandit closing in, and threw a second fire blast. However, the Bandit leaped to the side, out of the way. But that didn't stop the figure from swiping at the air, creating a sheet of ice in its path, cutting away the Heartless, as well as two of the Pot Spiders. Still using his momentum, the figure shot himself into the air, flipping over the crowd of Heartless that had begun to form on the roof. Mid flip, he punched the air toward the ground, shooting off more fire blasts that decimated the remaining dark forces, as he then landed back on the ground, on the other side of the roof. As he stood back up, another Bandit appeared, hoping to get in a sneak attack. However, the figure clenched his fist, which formed a pillar out of the ground and obliterated the Heartless right on the spot, not even looking around to see its demise.

Instead, the figure looked out to the desert beyond the walls, contemplating what he just saw. "Alright, Noel, think. What just happened?" He muttered to himself.

The questions kept rattling off in his brain. Why did he just see Heartless? Weren't they vanquished after the events of the Keyblade war? If not, then what other worlds have they attacked if any? All of these questions and more plagued his mind. But even though he had all of these questions, he knew that there was only one answer as to why he saw them here: The Heartless are attracted to the Keyblade.

As he continued to think, he could hear grunts and groaning behind him. Turning back around, he saw that the guards had finally made it up to the roof. While many of them were mostly trying to catch their breath, Razoul immediately drew his sword and started marching toward the figure.

"You," Razoul growled, "You have a lot of explaining to do, street rat!" The figure rolled his eyes as the guard continued to stomp over to him.

"Listen, I really don't have time for this," The figure groaned, "Any chance we can reschedule this for another time?"

Razoul wouldn't have any of it though, "We'll discuss your sentence while you rot in the dungeon!" He madly barked, to which the figured sighed.

"Well then," The figure decided, "I guess it's as good as a time as any to be hitting the road."

And with that said, the figure grasped at the air, which summoned a beam of light in his hand. It stretched out long until it faded away to reveal, now grasped in his hand, a Keyblade. It was pure white, with a majestic and royal style grip, along with a small wing for its teeth.

The figure then threw his Keyblade into the air, as he held his arms to the side and simply fell backwards over the edge of the building, with Razoul watching in confusion. As the figure continued to fall down, the Keyblade reappeared behind him, now in the form of a Glider, which the figure grabbed hold of mid-fall. Using the power of wind again, he propelled himself into the air, taking flight back over the wall.

Looking back, the figure saw Razoul still standing there with a dumbfounded and frustrated expression, while many of the other guards ran to the edge to see what just happened, them too being in awe of what this person had just done. After a brief chuckle at the look on their faces, the figure turned his attention back to the sky. A look of determination had now crossed his face, as he now had a new goal in mind.

It was high time he started looking for some answers.

As he looked ahead to where he was flying, Skyward Wing noticed that a corridor of light had appeared before him. Manipulating the air around him once more, he flew into the corridor, which closed behind him, leaving nothing left except the beating sun upon the desert world.

* * *

**You're welcome, Sky! ;)**

**Yes, if it wasn't painfully obvious, a lot of Skyward Wing's attributes are heavily inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, as Sky has made it undeniably clear he is a big fan of the show. So, I thought I'd incorporate some of those elements into his character, like elemental magic being his forte, and his Keyblade Glider being reminiscent of Aang's glider in Book 3. So there that is...**

**But now, all of the X-Keepers have been introduced! Now it's time to bring them all together. How exactly? Isn't that the question of the day...**

**Anyway, as always, feel free to comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter! **


	4. Dispatch & The Coming Storm

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to The X-Keepers!**

**Well, golly gee! What are the chances of this chapter being published the day of the X-Keepers next stream? I mean, It's like I had it planned it or something...**

**Naw, I kid...but regardless, now that introductions have been made (Minus one that appears here ;)) it's time to throw our heroes into the thick of things. How exactly? Well, let's find out shall we?**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney**

* * *

CHAPTER 4

Aqua looked over the garden in all of its beauty. She remembered all of the days when she, Terra, and Ventus would relax in this place.

That was before all of the misery with Xehanort took place.

It had been so long since she had been able to just soak in the fact that her home world is once again intact. It was also fantastic knowing that new Keyblade wielders had been discovered, coming here to learn all there is to know about the Keyblade, and to utilize it to the fullest, hopefully to become future masters.

Yes, everything seemed to be peaceful now…and yet, for one reason or another, something didn't seem right to Aqua.

She didn't know what it was, but something just felt…off.

Before she could dwell on the subject further, a small smirk crossed her face. "You're going to have to do a little bit better than that if you want to sneak up on someone like me."

She warmly smiled as she turned around to see a girl with black hair appear out of thin air, wearing a bit of a pout on her face. "Ugh, man!" the girl groaned, "And here I thought I was getting better at this." She walked up to Aqua's side, leaning on the rail and looking out at the garden.

"Well, technically, you are," Aqua nicely pointed out, "Just not on me."

The girl simply smirked, deciding to change to subject. "So, I take it they're not back yet?" She said, crossing her arms.

"You know how Lea is, sometimes, Dispatch." Aqua sighed, "He sees a lot of potential in HMK. So, he's been keeping him away for longer than usual."

The girl, Umbrella Dispatch, sighed at this news, though she was not particularly upset about it. "Should have guessed." She said, "Ever since he learned he could wield the Keyblade he's always wanted to prove himself with it."

Aqua turned to Dispatch with a small smile. "Y'know, I was actually kind of shocked when I learned you couldn't wield one. You seem like a prime candidate to wield such a weapon."

Dispatch snickered a bit, "I think I'll pass." She said kindly, "Besides, deception can be even better weapon when put to good use."

The girls both laughed, before a question occurred in Aqua's mind. "Dispatch, have you noticed anything different about HMK lately?" She asked, to which Dispatch began to think.

"Not recently," She said, "Why do you ask?"

Aqua shrugged, looking back out at the garden, "I don't know. It's just…when I was talking to Lea today, he seemed very uneasy about something. I don't want to jump to conclusions about anything, but…" Dispatch stood upright, bracing for what Aqua had to say, until the master ultimately shook her head. "Never mind," She said, "It can wait for another time."

Just then, a corridor of light appeared behind them, and from there, the duo they were just talking about appeared. As the corridor dismissed itself, Lea and HMK walked toward the two of them.

"Hello, ladies," Lea said coolly, trying to shake off the uneasiness of that corridor of light, "Hope you don't mind us dropping in on you for the evening?"

Aqua smirked, "Not at all, Lea. Not at all." She said.

Amidst this, Dispatch ran to HMK, embracing him tightly. "Nice to see you too, babe." HMK laughed, "How have you been?"

"Great!" Dispatch said, "Aqua has been teaching me a lot these past few days."

"Has she now?" HMK raised an eyebrow with a smirk, but Dispatch lightly swatted him in the arm. "I mean, she has? That's cool. Can't wait to see what you learned." He corrected himself, lightly rubbing his arm.

"Why don't we all catch up inside?" Aqua suggested as the group headed inside the castle as the sky continued to shine…until it slightly got a bit darker…

* * *

The room was abuzz with the new information that Lightning had presented to the committee.

"I don't believe it!" Cid barked at his computer screen.

"Believe it, Cid." Cloud said, "And they're growing stronger by the minute."

Cid was madly typing away, trying to make sense of it all. "You'd think after the kid gave Xehanort the boot, these things would've skedaddled already!" He groaned, as the committee leader, Leon, came up from behind.

"Well we can't do much about it now." He said sternly, "They're here, so we might as well try and find a way to at least weaken them."

"How do we do that?" a boy standing across the group said.

"I don't know, Hope." Leon answered, "But we will find a way."

Yuffie, the committee's resident ninja let out a hearty sigh. "That doesn't really give off a feeling of positivity, Leon." She groaned, only for Leon to roll his eyes.

Suddenly, a large siren went off, alerting everyone to Cid's computer. "Uh…this does NOT look good." The old pilot said, not taking his eyes off what he was seeing.

"What is it?" Yuffie was first to ask.

"Lightning, you said the Heartless were scattered across different worlds, correct?" Cid asked.

"Yeah…" Lightning said, impenitently.

"Well, now they seem to have just blinked off of my scanners!" Cid said, "And all that's left is this!" Everyone looked at the monitor, now noticing just a huge blob in the middle of the scanner.

"What is that?" Hope asked.

"Don't know." Cid said, still typing, "But it's giving off a lot of dark energy. And what's worse, is where it's currently headed." Cid then finished typing, and everyone now saw the blob's destination.

Lightning, wide eyed, immediately turned on heel, headed for the door. "Ready the troops and bring the Gummis around!" She barked, turning back around to face the committee, "We got to get out there quickly and warn them!"

"We're on it!" Yuffie said as she and Hope bolted for the door.

Before Lightning could step further, her glance shifted to the corner of the room, where VoltEditzz sat alone, with his hood up as usual, and his head down. She then felt Cloud creep up behind her. "One more chance." He silently said to her, continuing on out the door, leaving her alone to contemplate what to do.

Finally, she turned to the youngster in the corner. "Volt." She barked, getting his attention, "You're with me. Let's go." And with that, Lightning turned and walked out the door, leaving it open.

Volt, talking the hint, let a small smirk cross his face, as he gathered himself off the ground and headed for the door. This was his opportunity to make things right. He just hoped he wouldn't let her down this time.

* * *

"C'mon, it's just over this way!"

SoraAlam continued to drag Cynical over the hills through the castle garden, passing through the garden's far exit and up the steep hill.

"You sure we should be this far from the castle?" Cynical asked worriedly.

"We'll be fine." SoraAlam said reassuringly, "It'll totally be worth it, trust me." The two continued up the hill until they finally made it to the top. "Aaaaaaaand…we're here." SoraAlam then halted, as Cynical tried to catch his breath.

"Remind me the next time you decide to do tha-" Before Cynical could finish his statement, his eyes immediately caught glimpse of where SoraAlam had dragged him to.

The hill they were on was beautiful itself, being a nice semicircle with the rocks stacked up and dandelions blowing in the wind. But past that, Cynical saw the truly "cool" part of this place: The view. From the edge of the hill, Cynical could see the sunrise in all of its glory as it glazed along the rolling hills below as well as the mountains to the side. It almost looked like a painting to him, as he started to smile.

"It's…it's beautiful." Cynical was breathless, as SoraAlam came to his side.

"I knew you might like it." He said, walking up to the edge, and sitting down. Cynical decided to follow suit and sat beside his new friend.

"Usually, whenever I had a bad day, or if I felt something was wrong, I would find myself coming here." SoraAlam explained, "It helped remind me that no matter how dark things may get, light will always find a way to make things brighter."

Cynical nodded, "Makes sense." He said, as a smile grew on his face, "It certainly helped clear my mind a lot, I can tell you that." Both snickered, as SoraAlam continued on.

"Say, did you ever hear Master Lea talk about why the sun sets red?" He asked.

"Oh please, everyone knows that one!" Cynical said bluntly, still smiling.

"Alright then, know-it-all," SoraAlam challenged, "Spill."

Cynical snickered, as he explained in his best impression of Lea, "Light is made up of several different colors. And out of all those colors, red travels the farthest." The two were howling at this point, enjoying each other's company and hospitality.

Cynical was then first to talk. "Thank you, SoraAlam."

SoraAlam looked to the boy, "For what?"

"For being my new friend." Cynical said with a small smile. SoraAlam returned the smile as both looked back to the view. However, the view was NOT as they remembered it.

"Uh…what is that?" Cynical asked cautiously, as they both tried to make sense of what it was.

In the far off distance, the sun was beginning to be blocked by what looked like a dark cloud. But this cloud was different from ones that the two had ever seen before, as it was pitch black, emitting lots off thunder, lightning, and more shockingly, darkness.

Looking back to each other, SoraAlam was first to speak. "I think we should head back now." He said in a flustered manner he gathered himself from the ground.

"Yeah. Good idea!" Cynical said, following suit as the duo bolted from the hill, hurrying as fast as they could back to the castle.

As the two started moving, the dark clouds started to grow bigger, eventually getting to the point where it was covering the entire sky. Thunder and lighting cracked through the sky, as The Land of Departure suddenly got a whole lot darker…

* * *

As the dark clouds started to form, and the thunder and lightning picked up momentum, Aqua's fear stricken eyes would not stop looking at the sky.

"Something's not right." She muttered, as Lea, as well as HMK and Dispatch, came to the window to see what was up, Lea particularly also finding this troubling. HMK and Dispatch, however, didn't know what to make of it. But one thing was for certain, it was certainly starting to freak them out.

Just then, the castle doors swung open as SoraAlam and Cynical raced into the throne room, where Aqua, Lea, HMK and Dispatch were looking at the dark clouds.

"Master!" SoraAlam said in a panic, as he and Cynical strived to tell them about the clouds as best they could in their out of breath tones.

"Calm down boys!" Aqua said, "What is it? What's the matter?"

But before the boys had any time to explain, an enormous blast of energy shattered the windows, knocking everyone to the ground as pieces of ruble started to fly. As the dust started to settle, SoraAlam tried to get himself back up, but was now facing something he thought he would never see.

Emerging from the dust was a Large Body, who slammed it's fists into its giant belly, summoning Shadows in front of it. As everyone gathered themselves from the ground, everything was starting to add up about this dark cloud.

As everyone finally got to their feet, the blasts of energy hit the castle again, and more and more Heartless spread into the courtyard, smashing their way through the garden and the training grounds, and into the castle. As the numbers started to grow, Aqua realized that the worst was happening once again:

Darkness was invading her home world!

* * *

**And it begins...**

**So, yeah, Umbrella Dispatch has been added to the cast! (Your welcome, HMK!...unless you're not happy about this, then I apologize!) Whether or not she'll play a big part in the story or not I'm currently toying with, cause there is potential sitting there. But, I'll just have to wait and see where the story goes from here to decide.**

**But anyways, we have our setup! Now, lets see some major damage take place! (I sure hope Eraqus has insurance on this place, cause booooy is he not going to be happy when he sees the bill for repairs! LOL) **

**Until then, Feel free to comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guy in the next chapter! **


	5. Darkness Covers Depature

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to The X-Keepers!**

**So...if anyone watched the X-Keepers last stream, then you know that they brought up this FanFic...and because Chapter 4 was published the day of that stream, they did a live reading of it...and they also hinted that they have "Big Plans" for it in the future...yeah, I don't know about you, but I think my awesomeness meter just spiked because OMG THAT IS SO AWESOME!...Ahem, I mean, yeah, it's pretty cool, I guess...**

**But in all seriousness, thank you again to the X-Keepers for your praise and support toward this little FanFic of mine, and I can't wait to see what these "Big Plans" are in the future...**

**Ahem...now that that's out of the way, let's blow some stuff up! YAAAAAYYYYY!**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney**

* * *

CHAPTER 5

"No."

That was all Aqua could muster.

Her most horrible nightmares were being realized at the worst possible time. She stood there, breathless, at the sight of the dark forces creeping into the castle, into her home, again.

"No." Aqua said it again, tears slowly flowing from her eyes, but this time, her voice was filled with less anguish…and much more rage.

Her eyes narrowed as she stepped forward, summoning her Keyblade, glaring into the beady yellow eyes off the monsters in front of her. "I will NOT allow this," She growled, "Not again!" As a blood curdling scream emitted from her voice, Aqua charged into the swarm, slaying everything in her path.

Lea too drew his Keyblade, as he looked back to the four students behind him. "You four find a way out!" He hollered, "We'll cover you!"

HMK stepped forward, trying to persuade his teacher. "But Lea," He started.

"We'll be fine!" Lea said, as he shot off blasts of fire toward the Heartless coming toward them, "Remember, I'm not that easy to get rid of. Got it memorized?"

Dispatch then tugged at HMK's sleeve. "He'll be fine." Dispatch said softly, "We have to get out of here."

After looking back into the fear stricken eyes of his girlfriend, HMK turned back to Lea, now with a confident look on his face, as he nodded to his master. With that, HMK, Dispatch, as well as SoraAlam and Cynical dashed for the nearest door, as the Heartless moved deeper into the castle.

Lea, turning back to face the swarm, twirled his Keyblade above his head, as he aimed it back down at the approaching darkness, firing off a very powerful blast of Fission Firaga, with his voice cracking through the air.

"**BURN, BABY!**"

* * *

The dark clouds continued to swirl around The Land of Departure as several Gummi Ships flew toward the castle. Lightning, swinging the door open on one of the ships, looked out at the invasion in horror.

"By Cosmos…" She muttered, taking what she was seeing. Shaking her head, Lightning turned back to the matter at hand, calling out the battle plan.

"Cloud, take Beta Team into the courtyard, try and block out the Heartless," She called out, "Alpha Team, your with me. We'll head inside the castle and secure everyone inside. Move out!"

As Lightning finished the plan, everyone dashed from the ships, leaping out and landing on the ground, wiping out any of the dark forces in front of them. As the soldiers exited the aircraft one by one, Lightning stopped the last one before he leapt, giving VoltEditzz a serious look.

"No more showing off this time." She said sternly, "Slip up once, and you're done. Understand?"

Volt nodded, "I got it."

Lightning then slightly smirked, as she drew her gunblade. "Alright then," She said, "Let's go." Finally, she leaped out of the Gummi Ship, plummeting down toward the ground, as she slayed the Heartless mid-air, without even missing a beat.

Volt watched on in awe. "Whoa," he muttered, as he quickly gulped, and too leaped from the ship, summoning his Keyblade, while shooting Thundaga down toward the Heartless below.

* * *

The walls crumbled around the four students, as they tried to make their way through the castle corridors.

"This way!" SoraAlam lead the group, "We've got to move before-" As the young keyblade wielder tried to explain, the walls suddenly burst, bricks flying everywhere, as Heartless swarmed into the hallway.

"Uh, maybe we should find another hallway that isn't filled with these guys." Cynical pointed out, as everyone turned to go the other way, only for another blast to hit the hallway.

SoraAlam desperately tried to turn the group around. "C'mon!" He yelled, "We got to get out of here!"

The students continued running, the walls caving in around them as wave after wave of Heartless began to pile in. But the group kept moving forward, until a small slip up made them stop in their tracks, as Dispatch lost her footing and tripped under her own weight, losing her grasp on HMK's hand.

"Ah! Babe!" Dispatch yelped, as HMK turned on heel at the sound of her sudden cry.

"Dispatch!" He called out, but it was too late, as the walls continued to crumble, trapping Dispatch on the other side. "No!" HMK cried, until Cynical tugged at his sleeve.

"C'mon, we can't fall behind." He said, not realizing that they had already done so. Looking back, the now three students looked to see Neoshadows creeping into the hallway, looking for trouble in the most desperate way.

"Now what do we do?" Cynical asked, turning to his new friend for advice, but even SoraAlam was not sure how exactly they were going to get out of this.

HMK, however, glared upon the swarm, knowing exactly what he was going to do. "I don't know about you two," He said, "But I sure am not going to let these things get away with this!" Quickly, he summoned his Keyblade, and with a small grunt, he leaped into battle, swatting away all of the Heartless that stood in his way.

SoraAlam and Cynical looked at each other. "He's going to get himself killed if we don't do something." Cynical said, as SoraAlam nodded.

"Then it looks like we don't have a choice," He said, summoning his own Keyblade. It was a peculiar blade, with a grip and handle filled with small buttons, as well as a long blue blade, with the teeth bearing the initials 'SG'.

SoraAlam called it 'Maximum Control'.

"Let's take them down. C'mon!" He cried, as he joined HMK in the battle, slashing everything that appeared.

Cynical, however, was hesitant. He had never been in a real fight before, so what chance could he stand against the darkness? But knowing that his friend may need his help, he casted that fear aside, running into the battle, dodging all that the dark forces threw at him.

As SoraAlam watch him from afar, an odd thought occurred in his mind, something that could not be ignored. Slashing his way to his friend, Cynical stood back to back with SoraAlam, whom continued to block the incoming attacks.

"Cynical, why aren't you using your Keyblade?" SoraAlam questioned, trying to hold off the Soldier Heartless pinning him down.

"Yeah," Cynical explained awkwardly, "See, the thing is, I don't actually…have a Keyblade."

SoraAlam's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" He squealed, pushing the Heartless off with a great deal of force.

HMK, meanwhile, was slaying Heartless left, right and centre, though he was continually getting the occasional beating.

Though he wouldn't give up, he couldn't.

That was until a large smack from a Large Body caused him to fly back into SoraAlam and Cynical, leaving the trio in shambles. They tried to get back up, but they were all too tired to do anything.

"They're too strong." HMK pointed out, catching his breath.

"We can't beat them." SoraAlam agreed, as two Neoshadows leaped up at the trio, ready to strike them down once and for all.

But before the monsters could even land, a corridor of Light appeared behind the trio, as Skyward Wing flew out of it, transforming his Keyblade from its glider to its regular form, and slashing the Heartless in one quick flip, still in the air. As he landed back on the ground, he slammed the palm of his hand into the ground, summoning massive pillars from the ground, eliminating every Heartless still around them, leaving the destroyed hallway empty.

He then quickly turned back to the now astonished trio. "Follow me!" He called, waving them to follow.

"Who are you?" SoraAlam was first to ask.

"I'll explain later." Sky said, "Now let's go!" SoraAlam, HMK, and Cynical looked at each other, confused as to who this new figure was. But regardless, he looked like he could help them out.

Thus, as Sky rushed off down the hall, everyone got to their feet and chased after him, hoping he knew where he was going.

* * *

The large amounts of Heartless continued to seep into the castle, as Soldier Heartless marched down the hallways. However, as they continued to move, one of the Solider Heartless broke off from the group, wandering around the corner and out of their sight.

Once it was hidden, a puff of black smoke covered it, until it faded away, leaving Umbrella Dispatch alone to catch her breath.

"Oh yeah," She sighed, "Much better than a Keyblade."

She continued down the hall, trying to evade the Heartless the best she could, as she staggered through the blasts on the castle.

As she wandered the crumbling halls, she found herself looking through one of the windows, gazing at the dark clouds looming overhead. This whole situation frightened her, as she never thought the darkness could be this strong.

She then thought for a moment…is this what HMK always feels?

She knew that he had been trying to conquer the darkness within him for quite some time now, but now seeing what a powerful force the darkness can really be, could this be what he feels every day?

Her thoughts, however, were cut short, when she saw Neoshadow Heartless appear. She gasped, turning away to run, only to be blocked by a Large Body in her way. Dispatch looked both ways, not sure what to do, until the choice was no longer hers.

Looking back out the window, Dispatch noticed a large blast of darkness headed straight toward her.

Bracing for the impact, she casted Reflega on herself, though it still couldn't protect her, as the blast struck the hallway, sending her flying out of the now destroyed castle hallway into the outside air.

* * *

VoltEditzz slammed his Keyblade into the ground, slashing away the Heartless in front of him, as he turned back to Lightning.

"There's too many of them! What do we do?" He asked, trying to block the incoming attacks.

Lightning, too, was weighed down by the swarm, but continued to fight. "Keep moving!" She barked, "We have to get into the castle!"

Volt nodded, but paused at the sight of a massive blast hitting the side of the castle. He squinted, trying to adjust to what he just saw, as his eyes widened at what he was seeing now.

Below the castle was a girl, hanging from the edge of a small cliff. What was worse was that Heartless was starting to creep up toward the edge. As the girl's cry for help echoed, Volt knew he couldn't just stand by and let this happen.

Quickly shoving off the dark forces around him, he dashed for the edge of the courtyard, as Lightning's eyes widened.

"Volt, what are you doing?! Stop!" She cried out, but it was too late, as Volt leaped from the edge down toward the cliff.

Lightning, pushing off the Heartless around her, tried to chase after Volt, but was blocked and quickly surrounded by every form of Heartless imaginable. She breathed deeply, knowing that whatever was going to come next was not going to be in her favor. But that didn't stop her from readying her gunblade in her hand, ready to strike them all down.

"Alright then," She said confidently, "Let's go!"

Thus, as the swarm started to close her in, Lightning charged into the swarm with a cry of rage, ready to make her last stand.

* * *

Dispatch clutched the edge as hard as she could, not for a second wanting to let go, as she watched the Heartless close in with panic in her eyes.

"This is not going to be good," She groaned, as she slowly felt the edge of the cliff start to break.

But before it broke off, she noticed a blue blur descending down toward the swarm, as bolts of lightning shot toward the swarm. "Back off!" She heard a voice say, as the figure emerged on the cliff in front of her, slashing the monsters away.

Dispatch rejoiced, thinking she might just get out of this, until she felt the edge break off, leaving her to plummet into the abyss below. But before she could fall any further, the figure, now having slayed all of the remaining Heartless, quickly turned back around to grab a hold of her hand.

As she tightly grabbed hold of his hand, VoltEditzz used all of his strength to pull Dispatch up onto the cliff, as both collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"You ok?" Volt asked, as Dispatch gathered the strength to get back up.

"I'll manage." She said.

"Dispatch!" Just then, around the corner, Dispatch turned to see HMK, SoraAlam, and Cynical, along with a new person in a red, white and grey robe, hurrying in their direction.

"HMK!" She cried, as she ran toward her boyfriend, embracing him tightly.

HMK returned the embrace just as much as she did. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She said, only for a sudden rumbling noise to catch everyone off guard. Looking upward, everyone noticed that the castle was falling apart, and that it was about to collapse!

Quickly, Skyward Wing summoned a corridor of light over the cliff. "Everyone in! Now!" He called out, as everyone wasted no time in diving in, not sure what exactly would be on the other side.

Sky then jumped in last, closing the corridor behind him as the castle piece broke off from its main component, crashing down onto the cliff, leaving nothing but dust and rubble in its place.

* * *

The clouds continued to loom.

The restoration committee soldiers, all defeated.

And now, large blobs of darkness began to ooze over what was left of the castle grounds.

The Heartless continued to run rampant across the now demolished courtyard, gathering all of the remaining people left, including an unconscious Lightning and Cloud.

As all of this took place, Aqua felt herself being hurled to the ground after being dragged out of the castle, her muscles sore and tired from the battle she just went through.

Both she and an unconscious Lea were forced to the ground, as she looked up to see a man in a black coat standing above them, looking down at them through his hood. Aqua's eyes widened, remembering the last time she saw someone standing over them in a black coat.

But there was no way it could be him…it just couldn't be!

The man then looked up at the Heartless that dragged them out, nodding to them, as he summoned a corridor of darkness beside him. As she began to be dragged through the corridor, Aqua's thoughts were still on what just transpired.

Darkness did not just invade her home world; it ravaged it, leaving nothing left in its wake.

Finally, the corridor closed, leaving the hooded man to oversee what was left of the Land of Departure, as it continued to be consumed by darkness…

* * *

**God, I love cliffhangers. ;)**

**Also, just to address the elephant in the room here, THERE IS A REASON WHY CYNICAL DOESN'T HAVE A KEYBLADE YET. Just thought I'd put that out there before someone flames me in their reviews. **

**Anyway, how was that for an epic chapter? If it didn't get you hyped for he next one, I don't know what will! So, until then, feel free to comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	6. Teaming Up

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to The X-Keepers!**

**Well I've got some good news and some bad news. As many of you know, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Re MIX has released in Japan already, and thus Re:Coded's new secret movie has been unveiled to the public thanks to the holiness that is the internet. But, because I feel like being stubborn and want to wait for Square's official translation of the secret movie, I'll be waiting for the game to be released in North America so that I can watch the English version...which brings me to the bad news...**

**Because this new secret movie contains a lot of info on both Kingdom Hearts X[chi] as well as Kingdom Hearts III, I unfortunately will have to put my KH III FanFic on hold for a while until the game releases, so that I can indulge myself in this new content and refresh myself on how to incorporate it into the story, if I even can. However, the good news is, until December 2nd finally rolls around, I'll be switching my focus to The X-Keepers full time, so expect more chapters to come sooner!...hopefully...**

**Alright, with that out of the way, lets get back into the story, shall we?**

**Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney **

* * *

CHAPTER 6

The first thing Dispatch felt after exiting the portal, was tumbling feet first onto what felt like brick ground. As she tried to ease herself back up, she was immediately knocked back over by an incoming VoltEditzz, as he too slid along the ground. Looking back they noticed Cynical, SoraAlam, and HMK also fall onto the ground after exiting the portal.

After all of the grunting and groaning had subsided, SoraAlam finally asked, "Is everyone ok?"

Dusting himself off, Cynical answered, "Aside from a couple knicks and scratches, yeah I'm fine."

HMK, while tending to both his and Dispatch's wounds, then asked another burning question, "How about what happened back there? Last I checked, the Heartless were close to extinct."

"Not a chance," VoltEditzz answered, pulling himself together, "I've already seen them in a couple worlds. They've returned, and who knows how many other worlds they've infected by now."

"Well, what about OUR world?" HMK asked again, "What happened to it?"

"I've got a feeling that you might not want to know." Both turned to see Cynical looking up at the night sky, as everyone turned their attention to where he was pointing.

Looking upward at the stars above, everyone noticed one of the stars off in the distance was blinking like crazy, until it finally went out. Dispatch, covering her mouth in shock, knew exactly what this meant.

"It…It went out…" She muttered, "It's gone…"

As everyone took in the massive news they were witnessing, HMK closed his eyes in deep thought. Aqua, Lea, everyone in The Land of Departure was gone. And now, they had no idea where they were or where to go.

Looking back to the portal, HMK witnessed Skyward Wing enter through it, though instead of falling to the ground like everyone else, he simply rolled along the ground until he came back to his feet, looking around the area, without a scratch to behold. Breaking away from the group, HMK marched over toward the nomad, with a not too pleased look on his face.

"You," HMK barked, tugging at Sky's collar, "Start talking! Where are we?"

Skyward Wing however, simply pushed off HMK, with an expression of annoyance. "Thank you, Skyward Wing, for saving me and my friends from certain doom!" Sky said in a sarcastically chipper tone, "For a Keyblade wielder, you're not very humble, are you?"

"Answer me!" HMK pestered again, growing more impatient.

"Alright, ok!" Sky finally answered, "You're in Traverse Town. 1st district, I think. It's a haven for people whom have lost their worlds."

"So, our world really is gone?" Cynical asked, joining the conversation.

"If that blinking star didn't make it any more obvious, then yes." Sky answered, now a little somber, "The Land of Departure is gone."

"Then why bring us here?" HMK asked again.

"So you wanted been squashed by the castle ruins?" Sky asked, crossing his arms as he turned the conversation around.

"I could have handled myself." HMK answered.

"Really?" Sky asked sarcastically, "Because judging by what I saw, I'd say you might not have lasted another minute before the Heartless plowed you in. That or let the darkness consume you, but I'd say it's been doing a rather bang up job doing that already."

HMK, twitching from Sky's last remarked, summoned his Keyblade. "You want to run that one by me again?" He growled, pointed his Keyblade at the nomad.

"I've been around long enough to see where the darkness has left its mark." Sky remarked, "Just looking in your eyes, I can see it flowing through you like a river."

HMK gritted his teeth. "Then why don't you take a closer look!" He barked, ready to swing down his blade.

Just as Sky summoned his Keyblade, ready to block the blow, another Keyblade formed in front of the two, as both Skyward Wing and HMK looked to see SoraAlam, with Maximum Control gripped in his hand, blocking HMK's attack with a stern look on his face.

"Enough!" He commanded, pushing HMK's blade to the side, "All of this bickering isn't going to get us anywhere. What we need to do now is figure out what we're going to do next."

HMK, dismissing his Keyblade with a sigh, turned away from the two, looking toward the World's Exit. "Well, I'm not just going to sit around and wait for more Heartless to fall into our laps." He said, as SoraAlam and Skyward Wing looked to each other.

"What do you mean?" SoraAlam asked.

"What do you think?" HMK bluntly answered, looking back to his new acquaintances, "I'm going to go find who did this!"

"You can't just go out there on your own." SoraAlam stated, "You're going to get yourself killed, or worse."

"Well I can't just stand here and do nothing either." HMK replied, to which SoraAlam had to agree. The longer they wait around, the more worlds the Heartless invade.

Thus, thinking quickly, he approached HMK. "Then I guess I'm going with you." SoraAlam said, to which HMK raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about that?" He asked, "I get you can handle yourself, but this isn't going to be some field trip?"

"I know that." SoraAlam answered, "But I also know that everyone needs someone to have their back when they need it." HMK smirked, admiring the kid's attitude.

Skyward Wing then approached the two. "You'll need someone to guide you through the worlds." He pointed out, "I guess I can tag along and show you guys around." HMK, though a little disgruntled to have him around, nodded regardless, knowing that they would definitely need a guide.

SoraAlam then turned to his other friend. "How about it, Cynical?" He asked, "Want to go see the worlds?"

Cynical shrugged, "As long as everything gets resolved, I'll do anything to help you guys." SoraAlam nodded, glad to have him aboard.

As the four of them planned and talked, Dispatch watched on in the distance, knowing the adventure they were about to get themselves into. However, it felt as though something was missing. Realizing what it was, she turned around to see VoltEditzz sitting alone by the wall, not paying mind to anything. Realizing something, Dispatch made her way over toward him.

"Hey," she greeted, to which Volt looked over before turning away again. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving me." Dispatch continued.

Volt nodded. "It's no problem." He silently answered, "Just doing what I had to."

Leaning up against the wall, Dispatch looked back to the group. "You're not going to join them?" She asked, to which Volt shook his head.

"They don't need me." He answered, to which Dispatch smirked.

"Really?" She asked, "With your skills and knowledge, I'd say you would be pretty useful."

Volt chuckled slightly, though still didn't budge. "If they saw what I was capable off, they'd turn me away the second they get the chance."

Dispatch sighed, "You sound just like HMK."

Volt turned his head, confused by this. "What do you mean?" He asked, to which Dispatch enlightened him.

"He may try and ignore it, but I've seen what's inside him." She explained "Just a hint of darkness that could drive him insane the moment he lets it loose." She then looked back to Volt, "I've noticed that you too have something similar." Volt gasped a bit, holding his hand over his heart before letting out a sigh.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked.

"I need someone to watch over him. To bring him to his senses if he ever walked down that path." Dispatch looked back to Volt, who contemplated the task. If HMK was truly going through the same thing he was, then maybe it would be good to have someone for him to talk to about it; someone who's going through something similar.

Turning back to Dispatch, Volt nodded. "I'll do it." He answered, bring himself to his feet.

"Thank you." Dispatch thanked him, as Volt headed over toward the group.

As everyone prepared to head out, HMK and Dispatch said their good byes. "Are you sure you'll be ok?" He asked, to which Dispatch grinned.

"I'll be fine," She insisted, "I told you, Aqua taught me a lot while you were gone. I'll be able to handle myself."

HMK sighed, "I know. I just don't like the thought of losing you."

Dispatch smiled, pointing to the centre of his chest. "As long as you remember me, and keep me in your heart, then I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

"I'll come back for you," HMK stated, gripping her hand in his, "I promise."

Dispatch smiled, kissing HMK's cheek. "I know you will." She said back, as she backed away from him slowly.

Adjusting the dark sunglasses on his face, HMK grinned, summoning his Keyblade and throwing it into the air. Quickly, he then did a backflip in the air, as his Keyblade returned to him, now in its glider form, resembling that of a hog bike, as he landed on the seat of the bike, revving its engine.

SoraAlam, seeing HMK summon his glider, decided to follow suit, as he summoned his own Keyblade, throwing it into the air, as it returned to him also in the form of a motorcycle. However, as he got on, he looked to see Cynical by himself, to which he remembered: He didn't have a Keyblade. It still troubled SoraAlam as to why he didn't have one, but decided to worry about it later.

Noticing that his Keyblade glider had a sidecar, SoraAlam called out to his friend, "Hey, Cynical." Hearing his name be called, Cynical turned to SoraAlam, who signaled him over, "C'mon, hop in!" Smiling, Cynical made his way over, hoping into the sidecar of SoraAlam's glider.

Skyward Wing, following suit with everyone else, threw his now summoned Keyblade into the air, as he pushed himself up through a blast of air toward the ground, grabbing his now formed glider from the air.

VoltEditzz, with his Keyblade also summoned, threw his Keyblade upward, ready for his glider to come around. However, instead, his Keyblade transformation flew back down onto his shoulders, attaching itself onto his back. VoltEditzz smirked at its appearance: A Keyblade Jetpack! Leaping into the air, a blast of lightning emerged from its thrusters as Volt propelled himself into the air.

As everyone had their gliders summoned, the five Keyblade wielders finally took off, flying out of the 1st district and into the sky, as Dispatch watched in awe.

"Be safe, you guys." She muttered, as she watched them finally disappear into the lanes between, leaving only a blinking light behind them.

* * *

With a sudden gasp for air, Aqua opened her eyes.

Was she asleep? Unconscious? Either way, her heavy breathing suggested that she have been having a nightmare of sorts.

As her breathing slowed down, she pulled her head off of the stone floor, until she was now sitting up, looking all around her. She squinted, trying to regain her senses, as her sight began to emerge.

"Where…am I?" She asked, until a familiar voice rang in her ears.

"Well isn't that the question of the day." Aqua turned to see the large spiky hair she had grown to familiarize with only one person:

"Lea!" Aqua exclaimed, looking to see her friend sitting behind what looked like metal bars. "Are you ok?" She asked, as Lea rubbed his head.

"Eh, I'm alright. A bit of a headache though," He answered, pulling himself closer to the bars, "How about you? You've been out for quite a while."

"I guess I'm ok," Aqua replied, looking around again, "Where are we?"

"What does it look like?" Aqua looked across from her to see Lightning, also behind bars. "Prison," She said, "The least of your problems I'm sure."

Aqua continued to think to herself again. "But why are we here?" She asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know…"

Everyone was now at attention at the sound of the booming, yet calm, new voice that was heard. Just then, a corridor of darkness began to envelop the hallway between Aqua and Lightning's cells, as it disappeared to reveal a man in a black, Organization coat.

"Look, buddy, I love the fashion choice and everything, but that doesn't really help us at the moment." Lea said sarcastically, as the figure did nothing more but snicker at his comment.

"I'll have you know that your confinement here will not be overly long." The figure explained, "Soon, the moment will be upon us, and all will be as it should."

Aqua approached the bars, glaring at the figure. "What moment?" She growled, but the figure did not flinch.

"Why…you of all people should know, Master Aqua…" The figure replied, as Aqua gasped at the revelation that this person knew her name.

Finally, the figure answered her question…

"…Our…Reunion…"

And with that, the corridor appeared again, causing the figure to disappear, leaving the three of them alone in the chambers, left with nothing else but to contemplate.

* * *

**And thus, our adventure begins!**

**I hope the reveal of the Keyblade gliders was epic enough for you guys! Which reminds me, if any artists out there that want to take a crack at drawing their Keyblade gliders (I know you're reading this, Akaio! ;)), feel free to give it a shot, and be sure to send me a link, would love to see them! :D **

**Anyway, as always guys, let me know what you thought in your reviews, as I love to hear your guys thoughts and theories! (Especially the X-keepers themselves, I really appreciate it!) **

**So, until next time, my friends, feel free to comment (No Trolling!) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter! **

**P.S. Props to anyone who can find the Amazing Spider-Man 2 reference!**


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